


Nuts, bolts, and paint brushes

by Otakyun



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: A shit ton of swearing, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Angst, Art student lapis, F/F, Jaspis is only in the past I promise, Old peri's a bitch but she's ok now, Peridot's still a nerd, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:27:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28702140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Otakyun/pseuds/Otakyun
Summary: Lapis Lazuli hoped to have a fresh start in college. She applied for a college that's nowhere near her hometown and cut-off everyone but her family.Her hopes were immediately crushed when she finds out that her new roommate was none other than Peridot; who somehow followed her all the way from California.
Relationships: Amethyst/Pearl (Steven Universe), Jasper/Lapis Lazuli (Steven Universe), Lapis Lazuli/Peridot (Steven Universe)
Kudos: 2





	Nuts, bolts, and paint brushes

Fresh out of High-school, Lapis immediately applied for a college that's as far away as possible from her hometown. Her parents were a bit sad, but they eventually were fine with it. Her twin sisters, Layla and Lucy, knew exactly what was going on at school and were happy for her. The day before Lapis left for college, her sisters and her drove around the suburbs, egging every house that belonged to the people who were horrible to Lapis. 

So here she was in Delmarva, all the way from California. She wondered if this was a bit too much to run away from her past. She could've gotten in to one of the best art schools in the world, CalArts but honestly? The chances of encountering one of the people from her high school scared her more than the excitement of going there.

Whatever. She didn't wanna dwell on the past anymore. All that matters is that her taxi arrived on campus and she can finally unpack and rest after the long flight. She got her stuff and went up to her assigned dorm room. Looking at her dorm room with the door ajar, she can tell that her roommate is already inside.

Gathering up the strength to meet her, she opened up the door and...

"Holy shit" Lapis dropped her box of art supplies in surprise.

"Lazuli?" The short girl's freckled face turns red. _How the hell could she be here?!_

"Nopenopenopenpope" Lapis muttered as she picks up her box and turns to leave.

"Lazuli wait" Lapis looked up at the girl who looked just as shocked as she was. "I... Can we talk?"

"Excuse me?" Lapis scoffed. The blonde girl flinched at Lapis' tone. She started to open her mouth before Lapis interrupted her. "Look Greene, I did not travel to the other goddamned side of the United States only for you to ruin this for me." She huffed and turned to leave.

"Why is it about you?" She turned around again and found the shorter girl balling up her fists. "You're not the only one who wanted to get away from that shithole! In fact, I was here first!"

"Oh, what are we, children? Really? Calling dibs?" Lapis put down her box and approached the girl. "I mean, it makes sense that your maturity matches your height." She smirked, knowing for a fact that that will set her off.

"At least I don't!" Peridot calmed herself down. Lapis knew what she was about to say and she's lucky that she caught herself in time. "You know what? Forget it. Let's at least get along since we'll be stuck in this dorm for the next 10 months at least."

"Yeah right, like I'll let myself be stuck with you." Lapis glared at the girl before her. Peridot was oddly calm. She was usually the type that would go physical after a few seconds of interaction. "I'll look for the dorm manager tomorrow. Till then, leave me alone."

Peridot sighed and said "You can't change roommates. I read the dorm rules over and over again on the way here. Face it Lazuli, you're stuck with me."

They stared at each other for a few moments, both of them not knowing what to do about their predicament. At last, Lapis sighed in defeat and picked her box off of the floor and place it on the desk on her side of the room. Peridot just stood there, watching as Lapis brought in a navy blue suitcase. The blue-haired girl turned back to look at her.

"Stop staring at me weirdo" She said as she unpacked a box full of books. Peridot did as she told and went back with fiddling with a tiny robot that she had made. This was going to be hella awkward.

* * *

"What do you mean I can't move?!" Lapis shouted at the poor boy in front of her. Despite what Peridot said, she still had to try. She didn't want all her efforts to start a new life to be in vain.

"It isn't allowed in the guidelines and besides, there aren't any rooms left" Steven, the dorm manager, explained to Lapis. Lapis sighed in defeat and put her head in her hands. Time to get used to a life living with an angry slice of pie. Steven tapped his fingers on his desk.

"It's Lapis Lazuli, right ma'am?" Lapis nodded "Well, Lapis you can always get her kicked out of the dorms" She stared at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"Ok yeah bad time for jokes" Steven rubbed the back of his neck. Lapis crossed her arms and decided to go along with it. 

"Why stop there when I can go full blast and get her expelled?" She delivered that line so seriously that Steven's eyes widened, obviously thinking that Lapis was serious. Lapis laughed. "Relax, it was just a joke. Though, I may use it as a back-up plan." She winked at him

"Let's hope you don't have to resort to that plan" He laughed nervously "I hope you get along with her at least. College is more fun with friends!"

"Yeah, that's highly unlikely to happen. I appreciate the sentiment anyways." She stood up and held out a hand. Steven shook it. "Thanks for talking to me. You must be busy considering that it's the start of the semester."

"Oh no, it's ok. I'm always here to help even if it's something like just talking." He smiled brightly. How can a person be this cheery?

"Welp, gotta go and organize some of my stuff. One of us has to keep the dorm neat." As Lapis set one foot out of the door, a volleyball hit her in the face. 

"AMETHYST YOU'RE SO FUCKING DUMB" A shrill voice was the last thing that she heard before passing out.

* * *

Lapis woke up in one of the dorm rooms. Her nose felt funny and she reached up to find tissue jammed in one of her nostrils. Her nose must've bled when the ball hit her face. She sat up and looked around the room.

On the side that she was laying on, the walls were adorned with landscape paintings and music sheets. The desk had stationary neatly placed on top with a light blue laptop placed on it. Everything was so neat and organized, even her own mother would be amazed. Shame that the same can't be said about the other side.

The other side had posters of wrestlers and metal bands haphazardly placed on the wall. The bed sheets were a mess and weren't even properly put on the mattress. Clothes were littered on the floor and on the furniture. The desk looked like someone just dumped books on them and said 'welp, that's done!'.

As Lapis was about to get up, she heard voices approaching the door.

"Amethyst, I've told you so many times to be careful! Look at what you caused!"

"You've been on me for the past hour P! Can you shut up for a bit so I can check on the girl?" The girl, presumably Amethyst, opened the door.

"Good, you're awake. How are you feeling?" A tall girl with strawberry blonde hair asked her.

"I'm feeling fine, thanks" Lapis said, rubbing her sore nose.

"Oh man, I'm really sorry for that. I got a little overexcited." Amethyst said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I'll make it up to you, just tell me what you want"

"It's ok, I was just tired that's why I passed out." That was a lie. Her head hurt like hell but she didn't have the energy to be mad.

"I'm Pearl by the way. I want to apologize for my..." She looked at the shorter girl sitting on the desk "erm... friend."

"We've been friends for 4 years P, I can't believe you're still ashamed to call me friend" Amethyst pretended to be hurt, though it looked like this was an inside joke between them as Pearl rolled her eyes. "Amethyst by the way. Believe it or not but I'm a psych major."

"I'm Lapis, art major. I just moved here from California and this place already seems fun." She couldn't help but add sarcasm in there. 

"Damn, that far huh?" Amethyst said, surprised.

"Yeah, it's a long story."

"Well, since you're new here, how about we show you around? I've lived here my entire life and Amethyst moved here in her childhood." Pearl suggested

"Geez, I dunno, you guys are probably busy." _I also just don't want to hang out with two random strangers I met through an accident._

"C'mon! We know this really good pizza place. I'll pay for, you know, doing that to your face." Amethyst winced as she remembered the whole ball incident. Lapis considered this for a second. Making friends can give her a good excuse to not be at her and Peridot's room.

"You know what? Sure as long as you're paying" Amethyst pumped a fist in the air and Pearl clapped her hands.

"I highly doubt that Amethyst has enough money to treat us though." Pearl side-eyed the girl, who smiled sheepishly and shrugged. 

"I'll pay you back?" The purple haired girl asked her. Pearl sighed. 

"No need, this one's on me" Pearl grabbed a coat.

"Fuck yeah!" Amethyst stood up from the desk and jumped. She then reached out a hand for Lapis to grab. 

On the way to the pizza place, they talked about their excitement about the college and the future. Lapis liked talking about the future. It makes her forget the past and everything happening around her. Dreaming is honestly what got her through life in general. 

They arrived at a place called Fish Stew Pizza. The delicious smell of freshly cooked pizza wafted in the air. There weren't that many customers, which Lapis was thankful for. A teenaged girl was behind the counter, scrolling through her phone with a bored look. 

"Hey Kiki! How's it hanging?" Amethyst greets. Kiki looks up from her phone and her bored look is replaced with excitement.

"Hey Ames! Are you getting the usual?" Kiki high-fives Amethyst. 

"Nah, I'm here with Pearl and a new friend" She points behind her back and Kiki looks over them and waves. Pearl waves back and Lapis awkwardly puts a hand up. Honestly she's just confused as to how she got here in the first place. The three of them decide on an extra large pizza to share. Lapis was confused about the size until Pearl explained that half of it would go to Amethyst. They get a booth at the back of the store. 

"So, what were you doing at Steven's office earlier?" Amethyst asked, eating half a pizza slice in just one bite. "Wait, did you get in trouble? Did you also sneak in beer? If so, do you have some le—" 

"AMETHYST!" Pearl shouted. Amethyst grinned. 

"Uh, no I wasn't in trouble. I was actually there for a roommate change" Lapis took a bite from her slice of pizza. It really was good. The two looked surprised. 

"A roommate change in the first week? I mean, I complained about having this thing" Pearl gestured at Amethyst who swatted her hand "as a roommate. It wasn't enough for me to ask to move however"

"Yeah she must've been a real bitch" Pearl glared at her at the language.

"I actually knew her from high-school. She somehow managed to follow me all the way from California" She grabbed another pizza slice "Highschool wasn't the best experience to say the least. She was the most pretentious little shit, so yeah. I really don't want to be anywhere near her."

The two sensed that Lapis wouldn't be comfortable talking about her experiences in highschool, so they talked about their own. 

"Amethyst was such a troublemaker. Well, I mean she still is but she was worse back then. She once set a piano on fire" Pearl laughed and Amethyst blushed. 

"That was an accident!" Amethyst protested. 

"How the fuck do you accidentally set a piano on fire" Lapis scrunched up her eyebrows. 

"Well, first off the piano was outside the school. Some weird kids wanted to play a performance outside. So like, after the performance, apparently someone spilled alcohol on it earlier and I may or may not have been playing with matches" 

"I now have more questions than before" Lapis stopped eating her pizza, trying to understand the whole thing. 

"Don't sweat it. Point is, I got stuck cleaning the girl's bathroom for a week" Amethyst ate a pizza in one bite. _How does this girl have this big of an appetite?_

"I was somehow roped into the punishment as well. I had to do most of the work while Amethyst just watched." Pearl side-eyed Amethyst, who then acted shocked. 

"You're acting like I didn't pay you!" She put a hand over her chest and gasped. Pearl rolled her eyes in response. 

"Gee, thanks for the 5 bucks Ames, really appreciate it." She chuckled while Amethyst laughed. 

"I'm guessing little miss perfect here stayed out of trouble?" Lapis smirked, pointing at Pearl, who then blushed.

"Oh I have a lot of stories tell" Amethyst cracked her fingers, a wicked grin plastered on her face while the girl in question looked flustered. 

Amethyst was right, there were a LOT of stories. They spent an hour in Fish Stew Pizza just joking around and telling stories. Lapis wasn't really used to just having friends in general, so she was kinda thankful for the ball that hit her. While there was the whole Peridot as a roommate thing (she still didn't know what to do about that), she felt like this year was going to be great.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Welp, that's the first chapter I guess. I always wanted to write a long fanfiction so I guess this is my time lol. I'm not really sure about what the hell I'm doing, and this is mostly just practice for my writing skills, so proceed with caution. 
> 
> The pic attached is a drawing I made for this fic! Follow me at otakyun-art.tumblr.com if you'd like :)


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